Chi Chi is a jazz blues in Ab by Charlie Parker. Bird recorded this track in 1953 at his last significant recording session before he passed away in 1955. This same recording session also yielded classic recordings of Confirmation and Now’s the Time.
It is worth noting that I did not use Bird’s changes for the pdf or for the play along. I took these changes from a recording by Alan Broadbent. Broadbent’s changes are very similar to Blues for Alice changes, but are not the original changes.
Bird’s original changes on the head are as follows:
Ab7 | Db7 Ddim | Ab7 | Ebm7 Ab7 | Db7 | Dbm7 | Cm7 | Bm7 | Bbm7| Eb7 | Ab7 F7 | Bbm7 Eb7 |
The solo changes are are more like:
Ab7 | Db7 Ddim | Ab7 | Ebm7 Ab7 | Db7 | Db7 | Cm7 | Bm7 | Bbm7| Eb7 | Ab7 F7 | Bbm7 Eb7 |
or:
Ab7 | Db7 Ddim | Ab7 | Ebm7 Ab7 | Db7 | Db7 | Ab7 | Fm7 | Bbm7| Eb7 | Ab7 F7 | Bbm7 Eb7 |
Depending on the chorus, they played one of these two sets of changes or something similiar. It’s worthy to note that, while it’s convenient to think of a tune as having one set of changes, in reality the harmony of most tunes can vary in subtle or not-so-subtle ways depending on the recording, or even from chorus to chorus depending on what the musicians feel like playing. The harmony of a tune should not be thought of as a static concept, but rather a dynamic concept. I know a bass player who likes to learn ten sets of changes for a tune if he can find that much variation in recordings he checks out. He’s an incredible player, and his attention to detail shows up in his playing!